The Hill:
Twenty Attorneys General File Amicus Brief Against Missouri Abortion Restrictions
Twenty Democratic state attorneys general on Tuesday joined a multistate amicus brief in a challenge to abortion restrictions in Missouri. “Nearly 50 years ago, the courts ruled that women across the country have the right to control their own bodies, but nearly every day since, anti-choice legislators have tried to impose their personal beliefs on the wills of millions of women nationwide,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. (Budryk, 1/28)

The Associated Press:
Strike By Seattle Nurses, Staff Closes Emergency Rooms
Thousands of nurses and other employees at a Seattle hospital system began a three-day strike over staffing levels, wages and other issues Tuesday, forcing administrators to close two emergency departments and spend millions to bring in replacement workers from around the country. The picketers took to the sidewalks in front of Swedish Medical Center campuses wearing clear plastic ponchos against a heavy morning rain and carrying purple signs that read “Patients Before Profits” and “United For Our Patients.” (1/28)

The Washington Post:
Maryland Aid-In-Dying Bill: Another Push This Year
Medically assisted suicide failed by a single vote in the Maryland General Assembly last year. Now, advocates who want to make it legal for doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their lives are launching another push to get the legislation approved, hoping that growing public acceptance of aid-in-dying laws will win over at least one more lawmaker. (Wiggins, 1/28)

North Carolina Health News:
Feds Ask For Input On NC Maternal Health
Health care administrators traveled from the nation’s capital to the state capital this week as part of a listening tour on how the federal government could help North Carolina address some of its thornier maternal health issues. They got plenty of feedback from the dozens of North Carolina caregivers, patients, administrators and health care advocates gathered at the state Division of Public Health offices on Monday. (Blythe, 1/29)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Georgia Gets Bad Grades On Smoking Prevention, Cessation
Georgia gets failing grades for reducing cigarette smoking and for preventing young people from picking up the deadly habit in a report released Wednesday. The “State of Tobacco Control” report by the American Lung Association gives Georgia F’s for state tobacco prevention programs, access to services to quit smoking and the state’s level of taxation for cigarettes. (Oliviero, 1/29)

WBUR:
'I Wanted To Go Home': Sobbing, Justina Pelletier Describes Boston Children's Psych Ward
Like every day for the past week, Justina Pelletier’s family rolled her into court Monday morning in a wheelchair. Her nails had a fresh coat of lavender polish, and a fuzzy gray blanket lay over her legs. Now 21 years old, Pelletier took the stand in the malpractice suit she and her family are bringing against Boston Children’s Hospital and the doctors who treated her there. (Chen, 1/28)

Houston Chronicle:
State Fines Nursing Homes Over Falls
Two west-central Illinois nursing homes were among those fined by the Illinois Department of Public Health after one resident was injured and another died, according to the department’s quarterly report released Tuesday. Aperion Care Jacksonville, a 113-bed skilled care facility at 1021 N. Church St., was fined $25,000 for failure to provide supervision and implement intervention for a resident to prevent multiple falls, according to the state. (Bauer, 1/29)

St. Louis Public Radio:
Missouri Begins Testing Backlog Of More Than 7,000 Rape Kits
Roughly 100 of Missouri’s 7,019 untested rape kits have been sent out of state to a private forensic lab for testing. The state completed a full inventory of those untested kits last fall. Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office is now moving forward with testing the kits to help prosecute rapists and provide justice for victims. (Driscoll, 1/28)

Sacramento Bee:
Health Care Workers’ Tentative Deal Ends Prolonged UC Dispute
The bargaining team for roughly 17,000 patient care technical workers reached a tentative contract agreement with the University of California, ending one of the institution’s longest-running contract disputes, according to a news release issued Tuesday by Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. (Anderson, 1/28)

Houston Chronicle:
Commissioners Approve Funding Portion For PACE Center
The Huron County Board of Commissioners approved long-awaited funding for a future Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly wellness center in Bad Axe. The commissioners had put off appropriating $750,000 in funding for the center for the past few meetings because the original plan was for all the funding to come from the Older Citizens Fund, which did not have enough money in it. (Creenan, 1/29)

The Hill:
California Officials Say Seized Illegal Vapes Tainted With Undisclosed Additives
Illegal marijuana vape pens in California were found to be tainted with potentially dangerous additives, state officials said Monday. A random sampling of more than 10,000 seized devices from unlicensed cannabis retailers in Los Angeles last month found the products contained undisclosed additives and significantly lower amounts of THC than indicated on the label, according to California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control. (Klar, 1/28)

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